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Calls to end spot betting on sports

Steve Lillebuen

Australia's biggest sporting codes are under pressure to reform betting rules after police identified spot betting as a major corruption risk.

Police believe match-fixing within sporting leagues like A-League soccer, Big Bash cricket and tennis is imminent, based on intelligence gathered from overseas.

An Australian Crime Commission report, released on Thursday, also found at least one case of match-fixing and evidence of links between sporting codes and organised crime that may have resulted in fraudulent manipulation of betting markets.

Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Graham Ashton says Australian sport has been attracting large betting pools, especially in Asia, which is tempting crime figures to become more involved.

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Allowing spot bets to continue on an individual over in a cricket game, or ball-by-ball, presents the greatest risk, he said.

"Certainly spot fixing is something that we think is a real risk within the Australian marketplace," he told reporters.

"We need to take preventative action now to make these sports more resilient to this threat."

The report has renewed calls to reform what types of wager sporting codes will allow betting agencies to accept.

Independent senator Nick Xenophon said the evidence was clear that spot betting must be banned.

"If you ban spot betting it's going to make it that much easier to enforce it and shrink the opportunities (for corruption)," he told AAP.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said he was appalled to hear of the crime commission's findings.

"Exotic bets, also known as spot bets, should be outlawed," he said.

Police have examined how different countries are regulating betting and the impact it has on spreading match fixing.

Hundreds of soccer games in Europe are under suspicion of being fixed.

But in Canada, punters still cannot even bet on a single game. Bets must be placed on multiple games at once to prevent match fixing.

Last year, the multi-billion-dollar National Hockey League (NHL) fought plans to loosen those rules and finally allow single-match betting.

"Such wagering poses perhaps the greatest threat to the integrity of our games, since it is far easier to engage in match fixing," the NHL said in a statement.

The Australian Wagering Council, a group that represents many bookmakers here, stressed that emerging problems are coming from unregulated overseas online betting agencies, not within registered Australian bookmakers.